More Than Ordinary
by Deathcrest
Summary: So maybe she's not that beautiful, not that good, not that normal. Maybe, other women are better than her; other women who knew how to please a man more, who could feel more. So maybe she's unrecognized, but she is MORE THAN ORDINARY.
1. Chapter 1

Pre-Note: Alright. I'm an avid Grey's Anatomy fan. I've seen every episode from freaking season 1 to season 5. Grey's Anatomy had influenced me greatly to want to become a surgeon. Seriously, who doesn't love surgery? Anyway, I want to be a neurosurgeon like Dr. Derek Christopher Shepherd or an orthopedic surgeon like Dr. Calliope Torres, or even a general surgeon like Dr. Miranda Bailey and Chief Richard Webber. Alas, I am still a long way from becoming one. I'm still a third year high school student but I already have my goals set. Okay, enough right? Well, I had enough too. That was too much info. I never usually divulge my goals to others, especially to people I don't know because I don't like them. That includes you. Familiar, right?

"I usually don't like people I don't know" by Cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Erica Hahn.

And forgive me if there are any medical errors and send me a private message in order for me to correct it.

Ergo, on with the story.

And don't forget about the Thorazine.

Lastly, this setting is based on the equidistant parts of season 2 when Derek chose Addison over Meredith. Ouch! He was a bastard then!

* * *

Seattle Grace Hospital never looked so gloomy and bleak like it is now. With the usual downpour of merciless rain and the relentless cold that pervaded the damning hell she lived. Yes, Meredith Grey was depressed today. Not because of the weather, not the internship program she entered but rather the someone she was in love with. That someone who chose someone else rather than her after she had laid bare her emotions. Meredith had opened herself to him. She told him that she loved him and yet, he still chose someone else.

And that someone was Dr. Derek Christopher Shepherd, neurosurgeon of Seattle Grace Hospital, and the freaking best in the whole country.

Rather than face the wrath of a pissed Miranda Bailey at being late, Meredith scuttled towards the entrance. Shaking off the dripping water on her jacket, Meredith hurried to the elevators. As she was waiting for the elevator to descend to the ground floor, Meredith spotted Cristina Yang, her 'person', enter the hospital in a similar fashion as she. Wet all over, Cristina picked up her pace and stood next to Meredith for the elevator to come down.

"Are you all right?" Cristina asked in her usual emotionless, almost aloof, voice. Meredith had known Cristina as the surgical intern who was like a freakin' robot. She was as detached and cold and blank as a statue. When patients die on her, she never cringes. Meredith didn't even know if Cristina hold any pity for the families of the dead patients. But through the thick, near impenetrable wall of apathy, Meredith knew that Cristina was a good person. She had seen most of her emotional disclosures and it never failed to surprise her that the Cristina as a surgeon and the Cristina as a person were the same one.

"No." was her answer. It was true; Meredith was depressed. She didn't want to see the love of her life being with the person who took him away from her. She didn't understand why Derek chose Addison Forbes Montgomery, his estranged wife, on top of her. Was there something wrong with her? Was she inadequate? Was it all because she was emotionally stunted and broken and dark and twisty? Maybe it was just that she was just ordinary and he needed more than ordinary, more important than just some slutty intern. Maybe Derek just needed someone more significant and worthy of him than just some low, pathetic, common woman. She'll just have to live with the fact that if those were true, it was like multiple stabs to the chest. Perhaps this was just what she was meant to be, just an unimportant person who couldn't give the love of her life everything he wanted. She was just inadequate to everyone. To the Chief, to Derek, to Bailey, to her mother and to everyone else.

She knows that her friends like her. Cristina, Izzie, George and Alex all like her but deep down, she already knew that they wanted more from her. And what saddened her was that she couldn't give them their wish. All she could give them was just Meredith Grey, the ordinary intern. Nothing more. What else could she give them? She already discovered that all she did was just to make things worse the hard way. It was painful to think that no one really noticed what her potential was. Nobody ever stayed to at least watch what she can do. All they see of her was just a whore. No one knew how much she wanted to be more than ordinary in somebody, anybody's eyes. Just to be more than ordinary. The lonely and fleeting thought almost brought tears to her eyes and she quickly blinked them away. She didn't want everyone else see her tears and take pity on her. It would be just like looking at her and declaring she couldn't become great, that she would always be an average person.

"Okay, whatever. By the way, did you know that there's a new attending here and he's on general surgery? The other interns says the guy's like a god in the O.R.! I can already imagine Bailey trying to impress the guy. He's like the best in the world. They say he's an Italian living somewhere in Europe." As usual, Cristina was always the one who knew most of the medical gossip about famous surgeons. It's so like her to be that knowledgeable about things like that.

"Who's the guy?" Meredith asked, interested at the topic of a world famous surgeon working at Seattle Grace Hospital. She knew the Chief of Surgery, Dr. Richard Webber, would have accepted the proposal of having the best general surgeon working in his hospital with a wide grin. What kind of hospital wouldn't, anyway?

"Oh god, Meredith! You don't know him?! He's like televised in every medical channel on TV! I can't believe you're that depressed about Derek that you're not even bothering to know something that extraord-" Cristina stopped her statement at the sorrow in Meredith's eyes. She had just blurted out Derek and it saddened her person. If she had even completed the word 'extraordinary', Cristina knew that Meredith wouldn't last long in this hospital. Being talked about, being ignored at, being gossiped, being back talked and yet Meredith managed to come to the hospital to work and learn. All she has now was just the support of her friends and losing that, Meredith would surely be gone in a day's pass. It was both admiring and terrifying.

Lady Luck seemed to favor Cristina today as Izzie Stevens lightened the mood by arriving with her bubbly and very peppy 'Izziness'. With a thick mane of blond hair and the appearance of a five year old having received a cone of ice cream, Izzie never seemed to stop spreading her light of vigor and enthusiasm. The downside, however, was that Izzie could get emotionally attached to a patient. It was unprofessional for a surgeon, a doctor, to get that close with a patient. It was breaking rules and ethics and yet Izzie continuously do so. Bailey was always there to reprimand her for being attached but she always succeeded at avoiding her punishments.

"Hi guys! Did you know that we have a new attending? He's the best in the whole world in general surgery! Honestly, did you guys know? It would be so hardcore to like learn from the best!" Izzie watched the pair nod in agreement, her smile never faltering for once.

The chime of the elevator stopping brought their conversation to a stop. Entering the small cubicle, Meredith looked up into the bright blue eyes of Derek Shepherd, hand-in-hand with his wife Addison Montgomery Shepherd, best in Neonatal/Ob-gyn surgery. Seeing them together almost made Meredith's knees buckle in despair. Staring into those eyes that were once filled with love, was now empty and blank, as if she never existed. Knowing how she was quickly forgotten almost made her whimper in forlornness. She was just like an abandoned baby, left to fend, to feed, to care for itself in ways it doesn't know how. Why she even hoped that someone would love her was unclear to Meredith. Everything was now so empty and dead. No one was ever going to care if she was okay or not. No one would be there to look behind their shoulders to see if she was still there. No one was ever going to ask if they had seen her, if she had eaten, if she had slept. No one would miss her if she was somehow killed or kidnapped.

"Dr. Grey." The curt greeting, coupled with the nonchalance that poisoned his once loving voice was just too much to bear. That apathy would always be an eternal reminder of what she couldn't have. Of what she couldn't even dream of obtaining. She could never have what she had wanted for a very long time: love. She never got it from her mother, never from her father, and looking at Derek, she knew she never even had it in the first place.

Meredith had been sleeping with various men to numb the pain of losing him. But every man she met always reminded her of Derek. When she would be with random men, she would always imagine Derek making love to her. It was all she had now. Just a crazed fantasy.  
Managing a small nod, Meredith turned around and pressed the floor level to the interns' lockers.

Having noticed the sudden depression that reigned throughout the room, Addison chose to strike a conversation with her husband.

"So Derek, do you know who this great general surgeon is? Richard's been all happy and smiling and that's saying something because he never acted that way when I was accepted to work here. He was all ecstatic." Derek looked at his wife and smiled. Knowing she had made her husband smile, Addison smiled almost triumphantly. All the 'whore' Meredith had ever got was a blank and uncaring "Dr. Grey". If she had been alone with Meredith, she would have rubbed it in her face for the rest of her life.

"I don't think so. All I know is that he's a guy from Italy who used to study here in the U.S." Derek replied with enthusiasm. He had agreed to work things out with Addison and everything was going smoothly. They ate together, they made love, they watch TV together and they even fight sometimes but would always end in a carnal apology. It was almost like Mark never broke the marriage.

Addison and Derek continued to converse about the unnamed general surgeon to politics and sports. The other residents of the elevator were unnervingly quiet yet the couple never paid them any attention. Why should they? They were just interns. They were like the janitors of a school. They did all the work and never complained, so why should attendings bother to notice them?

When the elevator arrived at the surgical floor, the annoying chime brought everyone out of their reverie. As the couple were preparing to push their way out of the elevator, suddenly-

"Meredith?"


	2. Chapter 2

More than Ordinary

Chapter 2

* * *

Meredith was just standing quietly, looking down on her shoes at the process. She was just lost in her own thoughts and never bothered to listen to the couple's conversations. Both Cristina and Izzie were aloof and she knew it was for Addison and Derek. Yet the couple never minded them; she didn't care. She just wanted to get this day over. She just wanted to go home, lie on bed and cry. All the pieces she had managed to keep together were falling from her. She knew that she couldn't last like this any longer.

She heard the elevator doors slide open but she didn't move. It was still the surgical floor and only the duo behind them were needed here at this time. But before anyone else could move, Meredith looked up to the sound of her name being called.

"Meredith? Meredith Grey?"

The sudden calling of her brought everyone's attention. Cristina and Izzie snapped out of their apathy and stared at the man before them. Both Addison and Derek looked confused and unsure on what to expect. The man before them towered over all, with shoulders wide, back straight and chin raised. He was the image of nobility and aristocracy. He looked like a commander of kings and a king of commanders. A demanding and aloof air emanated from the man before the five people.

They were not sure but both Derek and Addison knew that this man was not one to be underestimated.

The first thing Meredith did was step out of the elevator, followed by Cristina and Izzie. The married couple soon followed out of the elevator but rather than meeting the man Meredith knew for almost 20 years, they walked away quietly, futilely ignoring his air of superiority.

"It's really you!" The man enveloped Meredith in a big, warm hug that almost made Meredith cry with joy. She laughed as the man messed her hair with his hand and using the other to hold her. Both Cristina and Izzie looked at each other in uncertainty, not knowing who or what this man meant to Meredith. Never had Meredith disclosed anything that had to do with her broken past. Many things had happened that made Meredith fear being herself. Now, every time Meredith was assigned to any of the Shepherds, Cristina, Alex, George and Izzie would notice that her head was bowed, shoulders sagged and eyes puffy and red.

"Alessandro! I missed you so much!" Meredith laughed. It had been a long time since she had laughed that it was raspy and almost screechy. Alessandro Viola was one of Meredith's best friends. He had been when they were both 10. Alessandro was a foreign exchange student from Rome, Italy when Meredith was still in middle school. They grew close because they both had devastated and pitiful pasts. Alessandro's parents favored his younger brother almost to the point that they shut him out completely. This evoked a sense of regret in Alessandro in his part. During recess, she and Alessandro would sit by a tree in the school grounds and they would talk on what was wrong with them. They would both wonder why their parents never loved them when they had been trying their hardest to please them. Meredith recalled a time when Alessandro once told her that he had aced all his finals, perfected his projects, impressed his teachers and even earned a notable reputation among district schools and all his parents did was shrug their shoulders. This had sent Alessandro into a deep depression, almost to the point of suicidal intent. And that was when she had met him, when Alessandro asked his parents if he could live somewhere else. They had been too happy to do it.

Meredith pulled herself away from him and looked into the familiar face of a beautiful and secured friendship. Alessandro now had short raven black hair, unlike his shoulder length jet black hair when they were both still in med school. A small and light yet noticeable mustache and goatee ornamented his ghostly, white face. His handsome face was the cruel perfection of a statue and his dark brown eyes added to the sheer faultlessness of his countenance. The smirk that would never go away was still in the very same position Meredith recalled many years ago.

"What are you doing here?" Meredith asked. She did not expect to meet her best friend from school at Seattle, especially the surgical floor of Seattle Grace Hospital. That she was surprised and on cloud nine was an understatement.

"I work here now. Aw, you missed me. Scary Meredith Grey missed the very handsome Alessandro Viola." Alessandro playfully pinched Meredith's cheek, emitting a laugh from the suddenly happy petite woman. The smirk on his face turned into a wide, genuinely happy smile and his eyes effervesced with joy. His voice still held the deep and almost romantic Italian accent when he spoke in English. Meredith was one of the many people who had helped Alessandro learn English. She had stayed after classes to help him with his English tutorials. She would show him a picture and she would say the English name of the picture and have him repeat it. It was slow but it helped create the bond between them.

"Stop it. Anyway, you work here as an intern?" The idea of having her best friend work at the hospital banished the saddening thoughts that she had a while ago. She could actually survive her residency if Alessandro stayed here. At least now, there was SOMEONE who would always look behind their shoulders to see if she was still here. To ask if she had eaten, if she had slept, if she was okay. Right now, her once depressing day turned into a basket full of sunshine. She was ecstatic.

Before Alessandro could answer, Meredith stared, shocked, as Izzie and Cristina both gasped and went to stand next to Alessandro, pointing fingers at his face.

"Intern?!" Cristina almost bellowed the question.

"Missed him?!" Izzie followed suit after Cristina in disbelief.

"What?" Meredith was as confused as ever at her friends' reactions.

"Alessandro Viola! As in, ALESSANDRO VIOLA!!! THE BEST GENERAL SURGEON IN THE WHOLE WORLD!!!! He's our new attending!!" Cristina's voice was heard throughout the surgical wing. Nurses, doctors, interns, residents, attendings and patients stopped and stared at the Italian General Surgery God.

Meredith stared incredulously at Cristina then Izzie, and lastly Alessandro. She looked down at his lab gown and saw his name, followed by the words "General Surgery". Meredith looked up at Alessandro and glared at him. He visibly cringed at her glower, unable to withstand her anger and resentment.

"Alessandro Giovanni Viola! Why did you never tell me?!" Alessandro backed away from Meredith. She knew that he knew that when she would use his full name, it meant a pissed off Meredith Grey. Both Cristina and Izzie looked mortified at seeing Meredith scream at the best general surgeon in the world. Instead of getting angry, Alessandro looked a bit fearful.

"I tried calling you but you never picked up! And I was on the news around the world! How could you not know that I was succesful?!" The nurses had started gossiping about how Meredith Grey, an intern, knew and befriended Alessandro Viola, top general surgeon around the world.

Meredith paled a bit before turning a slight red. However, Alessandro did not let the blanching go unnoticed.

"I did, you didn't-!!" Meredith's ramblings were cut short when she felt Alessandro's finger on her lips, signaling her to hear him out.

"What's wrong, Meredith? You paled a bit. Are you all right?" Alessandro was generally concerned. Meredith had been his best and only friend since he was 10, since his parents abandoned him. Meredith was his family. She was everything to him and he never failed to let her know how grateful he is. Right now, seeing her going pale a while ago invoked a sense of distress and protectiveness. He didn't want to lose her.

* * *

Derek Shepherd watched the renowned Dr. Alessandro Giovanni Viola place a hand on Meredith's cheek. Even though they had broken up, it still pained and angered him to see another man touch her gently in a way that he used to do. He knew he had chosen wrong when he chose Addison and he regretted it everyday. But Derek would always remind himself that he did the right thing by reuniting with his wife again. But still, remnants of his affection towards Meredith still lingered to haunt the very hallways of his heart. Every moment he would see her, eyes downcast and head bowed as if being eternally tormented by unseen and unimaginable monsters, he would always feel like a thousand scalpels stabbed him. He knew he still loved her but he had made a decision, and a decision he have to live by.

As he watched the exchanges between the two, Derek had noticed something about Alessandro. When the Italian had noticed Meredith pale, Derek had seen anger and concern amalgamate. And beyond that, beyond the outward appearance of brotherly concern and protectiveness, beyond the countenance of cruel perfection, beyond the mask of familiar connection, Derek had seen pure,carnal, unbound and selfless love.

* * *

Author's Note: SO....what do you think? Is Alessandro cool or is he a bit to perfect and almost mary sue like? Give me your most CRUCIAL criticism. Give me your insults or other ridicules you've got! Come on! Be a man and say it!


	3. Chapter 3

More than Ordinary

Chapter 3

Pre-Note: Please be notified that I had messed up some events and other important meetings in accordance of time. In other words, some characters who are supposed to appear late in the series now appears here, that includes events like Geroge and Meredith's sleeping together and not talking the next few days.

* * *

"Seriously, is this deja vu? Is Meredith going to get the good cases now that our new attending is also a friend of hers? Is this, like, another version when Shepherd favored Meredith over us?" Cristina complained to Izzie and Alex as they stood by the Nurse' Station after rounds, watching Meredith and Alessandro engaged in a sensuous conversation. There had been once an incident when Meredith got to scrub in on the good cases under Derek Shepherd just because he favored her. It had stirred resentment among her friends. It was due to Bailey that Shepherd stopped favoring Meredith and complied to teach every one of them equally.

"I don't know." Izzie replied, playing with a strand of hair as she watched Alessandro laugh.

"Because if it is, I am going there, bringing a scalpel, and torture them both." Cristina muttered under her breath. Izzie gawked at Cristina while Alex emitted a raucous laugh, receiving a glare from Izzie in return.

"What?" Alex asked, his face looking screwed up.

Just then, resident Miranda Bailey, the Nazi, arrived at the scene. Short and stocky, Miranda's fierce personality when it came to medicine and education was impeccable. She demanded equal treatment and ordered, not required, professional detachment from personal life. She was good in general surgery, only topped by the Chief and Alessandro but that didn't mean she was just going to sit around while everyone else is going crazy. Miranda always kept her interns at their best and would reprimand anyone who passed the limits of a doctor. If an attending, or even the Chief, favors one intern and refuses to teach others due to personal attachment, Miranda would command them to not bring their personal life to the hospital and demand them to teach all of her interns equally.

"If he ever does that, I don't care if he is the best general surgeon in the world 'cause I am going to whack him in the head so hard that he will need brain surgery to live. And that goes to the favored one, too. So watch out." Miranda's voice was steel cold and tough. At times, Miranda could be professional and hard. But there would be _RARE_ moments when she would break down and fall apart. Well, those are rare times.

Being proficient and excellent, Miranda approached the conversing doctors. Clearing her throat to indicate her arrival, Miranda waited with a chart in hand for the two to stop talking. Alessandro and Meredith halted and turned to see the small resident watching them both under a scrutinizing eye. Extending a hand, Miranda eyed Meredith as Alessandro took her hand and shook it.

"Dr. Alessandro Viola. What can I do for you?" Alessandro questioned in his usually deep and commanding tone.

"Dr. Bailey. I'm the resident assisting you on this case, Dr. Viola." Handing him the patient chart, Miranda gestured for Meredith to back off and stand by her colleagues. Waiting for Alessandro to finish reading the chart, Miranda took in the surgeon's appearance. Alessandro was tall, with a hard physique and big in size with wide shoulders. He was as white as a ghost and his hair was darker than black. Miranda was no racist but she had to mentally comment on the surgeon's skin color.

_Must be a bloodless freak_, she thought slowly. Sure she was very eager to work under the world's best general surgeon, but she still didn't know him. Miranda still had no idea what this man would be like. So, until then, Miranda would be professional and logical without being a brownoser.

"So, Mr. Eltimore needs a hemicolectomy in order to stop the cancer from growing through most of his digestive system. Interesting, Dr. Bailey. However, as an attending, I need to teach one intern. Isn't that right?" Alessandro asked as he handed Miranda the chart back.

"Yes, sir." Miranda had an underlying message to her response. By her stern tone, she had meant that there would be no favoritism and he would treat everyone as fair as he can. From the way Dr. Viola searched her eyes, Miranda knew he got the meaning. And then he did the most impossible thing: he smiled.

"I do not favor, Dr. Bailey. I equalize everything. So, would you please notify Dr. Stevens that she is to scrub in with us." Even though she expected it, Miranda was still slightly shocked. She had thought that he was going to choose Meredith over the others. But still, the good Dr. Alessandro Viola still has long ways to go before he gets the respect from Miranda.

* * *

"Stevens, you're scrubbing in the hemicolectomy scheduled this 1:00 pm. Are you up for it?" Izzie stood straighter as Miranda handed her the patient's chart. She had expected Meredith to be chosen than the rest of them. Perhaps this attending was different from Derek Shepherd. Maybe this one knows how to seperate personal life from work.

"Of course, Dr. Bailey" Izzie took the chart, smiling, as the resident left.

"Unbelievable! He chose Barbie!" Cristina, stupefied, glared at Izzie. Meredith laughed as Alex tried to steal the chart from Izzie. At that very moment, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Calliope, or Callie, Torres arrived. With wavy black hair stringing along her front and back and a slightly big build, Callie Torres was a great orthopedic resident at Seattle Grace Hospital. Wearing light blue scrubs underneath her lab gown with a stethoscope hung around her neck, Callie met the four interns at the Nurse' Stations.

"I'm having a hip replacement today at 4. Grey, you're scrubbing in with me." Giving the patient chart to Meredith, Callie left the interns to their business. Not even bothering to say hello, George O'Malley, a fellow intern and a close friend of the other interns, dashed past them without a second glance. It was a horrible incident that worsened their already unstable relationship. Meredith had cried when she and George had sex, leaving him distraught, unsatisfied and angry. She had on countless times tried to bring him back but failed miserably. All it had left was a painful silence.

"Dude, Bambi's still angry at you." Alex commented as George made a right towards the Laboratory Area. Meredith groaned and covered her face with the chart Dr. Torres gave her.

"I know."

* * *


End file.
